Whenever You're Near
by benjji2795
Summary: After three months apart, Jude heads off to Los Angeles to spend a long weekend with Connor. What he finds when he arrives startles him though, and rather than surprising Connor like he intended, he sneaks around. Who is this kid Toby, and why does he seem so close to Connor?


Jude was up at 5:00 AM on a Saturday. Most Saturdays, that would've meant that someone was getting murdered (preferably the person who woke Jude up), but this Saturday, Jude was happy and willing to be up that early. He had to catch the first morning train to Los Angeles, because today he was surprising Connor by visiting him for the first time in the three months since he moved, so Jude was wide awake. In fact, he spent most of the night lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, barely sleeping at all because he was so excited.

"You ready to go bubba?" Lena yawned.

"You bet!" Jude quipped, bag already in hand and the front door propped open with his foot. He was getting to stay with Connor for three days (since it was a long weekend at Anchor Beach) and Jude wanted to get there as soon as was possible. Jude had been planning this for weeks, and he couldn't wait to see Connor's face when he showed up out of the blue.

They arrived at the train station about 10 minutes early for the boarding of Jude's train, and much to Jude's displeasure, Lena took the opportunity to remind Jude of the "rules" for while he was staying with Connor.

"Now remember, you and Connor aren't allowed to sleep in the same bed," Lena said, and Jude rolled his eyes. They got caught making out shirtless _**once**_ , and now their (well mostly his) parents were on high alert when it came to any intimacy at all. He just wanted to fall asleep cuddled up to Connor because he was warm and cuddly and soft and Jude always felt safe in his arms, not because he wanted to do what they seemed to think he wanted to do. At least, he didn't want to do that _yet_. As his mama talked about that, Jude had to work to keep a smile off his face; Connor already told him his mom didn't care, so he just had to nod and pretend he was going to heed his mama's warning.

"And most of all bubba, have fun. I'm so happy that you and Connor are finally going to get some time together," Lena finished, smiling and giving Jude a hug.

"Me too. I love you mama," Jude replied.

"I love you too. Now get going!" Lena exclaimed, gently shoving Jude towards the train that was now boarding. Jude waved over his shoulder, grinning as he hopped on; he took his seat, anxiously awaiting the end of the three-hour ride. Three hours and then he would be seeing Connor in the flesh again for the first time in too long.

Connor was really thankful that he had finally made a friend in Toby. The hardest part about being in Los Angeles without Jude wasn't just that he couldn't see his boyfriend every day; it also meant that he didn't have his best friend with him at school. The first month and a half of school had been really hard, since Connor was pretty much alone. It had been a huge adjustment for him; his school in LA was so different from Anchor Beach. He went from being the popular baseball star with tons of friends to a guy that few people knew. And if they did know him, he was the weird, loner gay kid.

Toby was new to the school; in a lot of ways, Connor was reminded of Jude when he saw Toby standing up in front of the class that first day. So Connor made a point of reaching out to Toby, just like he did with Jude. It turned out Toby was funny and kind, and he shared a lot of the same interests with him, such as skateboarding and video games. Of course, even with the similarities, Toby was still no Jude, but Connor liked hanging out with him. And Toby was gay too, so that was another benefit, because they could gossip about cute boys and talk about how straight guys just didn't make sense.

Today, Toby had burst into his house shortly after Connor's mom left for work, waking Connor up way too early for a Saturday morning.

"Connor, I'm bored!" Toby groaned, flopping down next to him on his bed and nudging him in the side.

"That's your fault. You're the one that woke up at," Connor mumbled, pausing to glance at his phone, "8:30 AM on a Saturday." As Toby started jabbering away, Connor slid his phone open, hoping that maybe Jude was already up and had texted him, though Connor wasn't holding his breath. Jude usually slept way later than him, not to mention that Jude wasn't usually woken up by their friend at 8:30. Connor was the only (boy)friend who ever dared to try, and of course, usually that ended with Connor joining Jude in bed rather than getting him up.

Jude entered Connor's house, quickly slipping inside and padding down the hall to Connor's room. But he stopped short, having heard voices filtering down the hallway.

"You need to get out of bed!" an unfamiliar voice yelled. Jude chuckled, looking down at his watch; 8:37 AM. This guy was obviously delusional. No one could get Connor out of bed before 10:00 AM on a Saturday. Not even him (okay but to be fair, Jude never tried; he pretty much always joined Connor in bed).

Jude peeked in the door, finding the boy Jude didn't know lying next to Connor in bed. Jude quirked his eyebrows up, rapidly disappearing out of sight again when Connor began to turn his head towards the door. He wondered what the hell Connor was doing letting this guy lie on his bed with him. That was a place that should only be reserved for him!

"Will you stop being annoying if I do?" Connor sighed, clearly exasperated by this boy for some reason.

"Yep," the other boy said.

"Ugh fine, you win," Connor groaned.

 _Okay, so Connor really didn't want him in his bed, the guy just did it to get Connor up_ , Jude thought. But Jude was curious to see who this guy was, and how close he and Connor were. So against his better judgment, Jude slid into the bathroom, hiding there as Connor stumbled out of his room behind the other boy. Once he was certain that Connor was past him, Jude scurried into the kitchen, watching Connor and the other boy from the doorway behind them.

The other boy (who Jude now heard his name was Toby; that was odd because Connor never mentioned anyone named Toby) quickly set up Connor's video game console and settled down beside Connor, sitting closer to him than Jude liked.

An hour of video games later and Jude was really bothered by Toby. Toby was constantly nudging Connor, grabbing his arm, briefly laying his head on Connor's shoulder; Toby just literally had his hands all over Connor and it was making Jude's blood boil. And that was without factoring in the glances that Toby kept sneaking at Connor. And Connor did nothing to stop him. What if that meant—

Jude shook his head, trying to throw the thought from his mind before it reached its conclusion. Connor wouldn't do that to him. Connor wasn't that kind of guy. But then again, Jude hadn't seen him in three months. There was always a chance that he'd changed in that time…

Connor began turning his head to glance behind him, and Jude ducked out of the doorway so Connor couldn't see him. He needed to observe these two more, just to see what exactly was up. Something about their friendship didn't sit right with Jude. He didn't trust Toby, at all.

"Hey Connor I'm bored again." Toby whined. "How about we go to the skate park now?"

This guy liked video games and was a skateboarder? That, coupled with Toby's affectionate behavior towards Connor probably meant only one thing: Connor was trying to replace him.

"Yeah, sure," Connor answered flatly, seeming completely uninterested in going to the skate park (which was extremely unusual). "Let me just grab some food from the kitchen."

 _Shit, Connor was going to find him here!_ Jude panicked, glancing around rapidly. He noticed a small closet to his right. _Perfect_. He hurried over to it, throwing the door open and shoving his body inside, closing the door behind him. The door had just barely latched shut when Connor walked into the kitchen. Through the small slats in the door, Jude could see Connor looking around with a confused look on his face, almost as if he was looking for something specific, but not finding it. After a moment, Connor shrugged, grabbing an apple and walking out. Jude waited for a minute, and when he heard the front door shut, he tumbled out of the closet. Standing up and dusting himself off, he waited for a minute before heading out the door himself. He had a really bad feeling about how this was going to go.

Jude shuffled along behind them, staying just far enough away that he could see Toby and Connor, but not so close that Connor could recognize him if he turned around. Toby was practically hanging on Connor's arm, walking way too close to him. Jude was starting to get angry; he just couldn't believe that Connor would do something like this. He was either probably leading Toby on which wasn't fair to Toby at all, or Connor was cheating on him!

Jude stopped himself at the last thought; he was probably just overreacting. He'd seen friends that were as affectionate as Toby before. He could still just be Connor's friend. And besides, he should probably trust Connor, seeing as he'd never really lied to Jude before (except perhaps during the whole thing with Daria, but that didn't really count).

Eventually they arrived at the skate park, and Jude sat down under a tree just outside the park. He folded his legs and leaned up against the tree trunk, breathing heavily and trying to control his racing thoughts. He watched as Connor skated around, huge smile plastered on his face as he interacted with Toby. Connor seemed to be happy hanging around this guy; maybe that meant that Connor had found someone better than him, someone who was actually there. Jude should've guessed that eventually the distance would've gotten to be too much for Connor, but dammit he didn't think he was going to get replaced so quickly.

He should just go up to Connor and surprise him now, but then he would have to explain how he knew that Connor was here, and telling Connor that he was spying on him likely was not going to go over well. And besides, as soon as Connor realized Jude was there, it was probably going to be over. Connor was going to break up with him, and Jude wanted to delay that for as long as he possibly could. So after a few minutes, Jude stood up, deciding to go back and wait for Connor at his house.

He took one last glance at Connor and Toby, finding Toby standing in front of Connor, hands on Connor's shoulders. Toby's lips were puckered, and his eyes were closed as he started to lean in on Connor. Jude gasped, tears beginning to blur the edges of his vision. Yeah, Connor was dating Toby; Jude was no longer the guy Connor wanted. He squeezed his eyes shut so that he wouldn't have to see Connor kiss another boy right in front of him.

But that's not what happened. Instead, Jude was surprised to hear Connor start screaming at Toby.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING TOBY?" Connor shrieked. Jude opened his eyes to see Connor shoving Toby off of him. Connor started jogging over in Jude's direction, and after Toby regained his balance from Connor shoving him, stormed after Connor.

"I thought I told you that I had a boyfriend," Connor growled, coming up to Jude and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "And in case you didn't you realize, you just tried to kiss me right in front of him. He's been following us all morning."

"H-how did you know I was here?" Jude stuttered.

"I can always feel you when you're near me," Connor chuckled. "Well that, and I saw you peeking in my bedroom door."

"I-I'm s-sorry I shouldn't have been following you," Jude blubbered. "I just got scared that Toby was—"

"Jude, look at me," Connor instructed, moving in front of Jude and grabbing his hands, lacing their fingers together. When Jude looked up, Connor gave him a short, sweet kiss. "Jude, I love you and I would never, ever do that to you."

"So you never had any intentions of doing anything with me at all?" Toby spat.

"Why would I cheat on Jude? What the hell gave you the impression that I would?" Connor argued.

"You were letting me be all affectionate and shit with you," Toby yelled. "What was I supposed to think?"

"Really, I was?" Connor asked, confusion furrowing his eyebrows. "I—I didn't notice."

"Bullshit, you knew and you just let me think I had a chance. Great, thanks a lot Connor," Toby replied, and then he stomped off, leaving Connor and Jude alone.

"I really didn't notice Jude," Connor mumbled.

"I know you didn't, my oblivious idiot," Jude teased lovingly.

"Well I guess I'm back to having no friends," Connor sighed.

"I don't think Toby ever wanted to be your friend, he just wanted to, um—" Jude paused.

"No, don't say it, I think I get the picture Jude," Connor quickly interjected, placing a finger on Jude's lips. "Forget him, because hey, you're here!"

"Yeah, I am," Jude grinned as Connor embraced him tightly.

"I'm so happy to see you," Connor whispered. Jude buried his head into Connor's neck, savoring the sensation of Connor's strong arms around him, Connor's heart beat through his shirt. Jude didn't realize just how much he missed this until now.

"Can we go back to your house now?" Jude inquired.

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Connor answered.

"Well that's odd," Jude replied.

"Huh?"

"You didn't seem to implying anything just now which is unusual for you," Jude explained. "I mean, we're going to be at your house, alone, just the two of us. Surely I would've thought you—"

"Oh shut up," Connor mumbled. "I know I'm usually like that but I haven't seen you in three months. I kinda just wanna cuddle."

"Okay, we can do that," Jude smiled, taking Connor's hand as they started to walk back. There would be plenty of time to make out later.


End file.
